US to deploy new laser weapon to Persian Gulf

Though drones may be getting most of the attention these days, the US Navy is getting set to deploy its first solid-state laser weapon aboard the USS Ponce in what it calls an “at-sea demonstration,” a technology that could revolutionize global warfare.

The new Laser Weapon System (LaWS) is said to have successfully
destroyed at least one test drone, according to the US Navy, and
its deployment aboard the Ponce, a ship that has come to be known
as a floating forward staging base, suggests government confidence
in the technology.

Video released by the Navy depicts the laser battery mounted
aboard the USS Dewey, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile
destroyer, successfully targeting a moving drone, and engulfing it
in flames.

Though the technology behind the development of concentrated
laser weapons has been around for decades and was popularized
during the Reagan Administration’s 'Star Wars' anti-ballistic
missile program, it has only been within the last few years that
the US military has begun producing practical adaptations.

Though there is no indication that lasers field tested by the US
can realistically intercept an intercontinental ballistic missile
(ICBM) at this point, the pressure is on for the Navy’s latest
project. The hope behind the costly development of systems like
solid state lasers is that one day they may begin to phase out
traditional guided missiles and artillery.

Considering that a single tactical Tomahawk cruise missile costs
the US $1.4 million, developing a laser that can someday
approximate its capabilities at $1 per shot would be a radical
advance. As for the laser battery being deployed aboard the USS
Ponce, that technology is being described by sources like Wired
Magazine as essentially a big cousin to commercial welding units,
and being limited in the amount of power they can generate.

Nevin Carr, a retired two-star admiral who spoke with Wired,
described the laser being fitted aboard the Dewey as effective
against targets such as UAVs and “small, fast-swarming
boats.”

Perhaps not coincidentally, Iran operates such vessels along the
Strait of Hormuz, the critical navigation point for a large
percentage of the world’s oil supply, and a region it has
threatened to blockade in the past.

Peter A. Morrision, program officer for the Solid-State Laser
Technology Maturation Program, seemed to gush at prospects for the
new laser system.

"The future is here. The solid-state laser is a big step
forward to revolutionizing modern warfare with directed energy,
just as gunpowder did in the era of knives and swords," said
Morrision.

Just how “mature” the new weapon truly is remains to be
seen, though with the development of drones by practically every
significant military power developing a low-cost weapon that could
destroy these even at close range would be a huge advantage for the
US.

Regardless, it seems safe to say that laser technology is poised
to finally exceed the great amount of empty hype it has produced
since the Cold War.